MESSAGE FROM THE ICA-AP PRESIDENT AND REGIONAL DIRECTOR
Dear members,
We are pleased to present the 2022 Annual Activities Report (AAR), which highlights our activities, projects, and events over the past year. As we reflect on the year that has passed, we are grateful for the opportunities that we have had to work with members and achieve the targets set for the year.
In line with ICA 33rd World Cooperative Congress, the Regional Office focused on deepening the cooperative identity in Asia and Pacific. The key activities of the year include consultations with its members on cooperative Identity, launching COOP Dialogue, a bi-annual publication, the 11th Asia-Pacific Regional Women’s Forum, the third Asia-Pacific Cooperative Youth Summit (virtual), Coop Pitch competition, Global Workshop on Building and Strengthening Cooperative Identity among Youth, and several webinars to educate members on the opportunities post-Covid-19.
The 2022 AAR report showcases the work we have done with members to address climate change, the platforms used to engage in conversation with members, the avenues to broaden reach and influence policy, and new partnerships to expand the scope of our work. We hope that this report will give you a better understanding of the work we have carried out.
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HIGHLIGHTS OF THE YEAR
2022 was a significant year for cooperatives and the ICA-AP Regional Office! It marked the 100th International Day of Cooperatives, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of ILO Recommendation 193 on the Promotion of Cooperatives (2002), and the 10th year since the UN International Year of Cooperatives (2012, IYC). It was also the first time that ICA-AP organized a virtual side event at the UN NGO Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 66 Forum.
ICA-AP in collaboration with its Women and Forestry Committees hosted a virtual side event for the first time at the UN NGO Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) 66 Forum in March 2022. It had the theme "Women in Cooperatives: Combating Climate Change Together” and brought together representatives from cooperatives in Japan, Nepal, Australia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Palestine, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and India to discuss the impact of natural disasters on cooperatives and their female members, as well as the climate change initiatives taken by these cooperatives. Read more
100th International Day of Cooperatives
In July 2022, cooperatives around the world celebrated the 100th International Day of Cooperatives (#CoopsDay). This year also marked the 10th anniversary of the UN International Year of Cooperatives (IYC, 2012). To mark these historic milestones, ICA-AP organized a panel discussion on What has changed since 2012? to map the growth trajectory of the cooperative movement in the Asia and Pacific region since IYC, 2012. The discussion was divided into two panels, with eight speakers representing a diverse range of perspectives, including cooperative leaders, government representatives, and representatives of international bodies that work closely with cooperatives. Read more.
International Youth Day
International Youth Day (IYD) 2022 focused on the theme of Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages, emphasizing the importance of leveraging the potential of all generations. The ICA-AP Committee on Youth Cooperation (ICYC) organized a webinar on the topic of Ageism in employment, where speakers from various age groups shared their experiences and insights. The webinar raised awareness about the importance of intergenerational cooperation and the role that young people can play in the cooperative movement. Read more.
Cooperative to Cooperative (C-2-C) Trade & Business Conference
The ICA-AP Committee on Trade & Business, in collaboration with the ASEAN Cooperative Organization (ACO) and ANGKASA, organized the Cooperative to Cooperative (C-2-C) Trade & Business Conference in November end in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The conference themed "Demand vs. Opportunities: Bridging the Gap through Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure (SDG 9)," aimed to focus on the agriculture, consumer, and financial sectors, where cooperatives have a significant presence. Participants shared their best practices, success stories, and experiences, fostering cooperation among cooperatives in line with the 6th Cooperative Principle. Read more.
16th ICA Asia-Pacific Research Conference
The ICA-AP Committee on Cooperative Research (CCR), in collaboration with the Indonesian Cooperative University (IKOPIN University), organized the 16th ICA Asia-Pacific Research Conference in Bandung, Indonesia in December. It brought together academics and researchers on cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region in a hybrid format to discuss “Rebuilding a Global Society Through Cooperative Identity.” The Committee presented the Dr. Mauritz Bonow Young Researcher Award 2022 to Ms. Yuki Sano from Japan and Ms. Ashni G. from India. Read more.
G20 Engagements in Indonesia
In 2022, the Indonesian G20 Presidency focused on three main pillars - Global Health Architecture, Sustainable Energy Transition, and Digital Transformation. The ICA member in Indonesia, INKUR Federation, led the process of ensuring that cooperatives are represented in the B20 and C20 task forces. It organized side events like an international consultation seminar on "Operation to Build Sustainable Economic Democracy" in Jakarta, Indonesia in the C20 and an online event on ‘Strengthening the Role of Cooperatives in Achieving the Targets of SDGs and Economic Democracy’. Read more.
Contribution of Asia-Pacific Cooperatives to the Top 300
The WCM 2022 edition featured the Top 300 rankings of the world’s largest CMEs and a special focus on the challenges of digitalization. The world's top 300 CMEs reported a total turnover of around 2,171 billion USD, based on 2020 financial data. It featured rankings based on two criteria – Top 300 based on turnover, and Top 300 based on the ratio of turnover over the gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. The first ranking featured 41 cooperatives from the Asia and Pacific region and the second 53 cooperatives. Read more.
ICA-AP Regional Board Meetings in India and Australia
The ICA-AP Regional Board, elected in November 2021, met twice in 2022. Its first formal meeting was hosted by the National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI) in April 2022 in New Delhi, India in hybrid mode. The second meeting was hosted by Cooperative Bulk Handling (CBH) Group in December in Perth, Australia in hybrid mode. In Australia, the Board members also participated in a knowledge-enhancing session on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Standards and visited local cooperatives. Read more.
Elections of the ICA-AP Regional Committees
The ICA-AP Committee on Women and Committee on Trade & Business held their office bearers elections this year. The Trade & Business Committee met online in September. Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Fattah (ANGKASA) retained his position as the Chairman while Mr. Gyan Bahadur Tamang from Nepal was elected as the Vice Chairman of the Committee for the period of 2022-2025. The ICA-AP Committee on Women held its statutory meeting and elections in the Philippines in November. The meeting was hosted by the National Confederation of Cooperatives (NATCCO) in Quezon City. Ms. Chitose Arai (JCCU) was elected unopposed as the Committee Chairperson and Ms. Priti Patel (NCUI) was elected as the Vice-Chairperson. The term of the new Office Bearers will be four years starting 2022 to 2026. Read more.
Regional Representation in ICA Global Board
The Asia and Pacific region is well represented at the ICA Global Board. During the elections held in Seville in June 2022, Mr. Cai Zhenhong from ACFSMC, China; Mr. Aditya Yadav from IFFCO India; Mr. Bahman Abdollahi from Iran Chamber of Cooperatives (ICC), Mr. Toru Nakaya from JCA, Japan; and Dato’ Kamarudin Ismail from ANGKASA, Malaysia were elected as members at large. Mr. Sung-hee Lee from NACF, Korea was elected as the sectoral representative for the International Cooperative Agriculture Organization (ICAO). Dr. Chandrapal Singh Yadav from India, the President of ICA-AP, serves as the Vice President on the Global Board. Read more.
COOPERATIVES AND CLIMATE ACTION
Climate action has been a key area for the ICA-AP Regional Office and for cooperatives in the Asia and Pacific over the last few years. The global impact of COVID-19 has enhanced the importance of climate action. Climate change severely impacts people’s lives and livelihoods around the world, with a disparate impact on the vulnerable, economically disadvantaged, minorities, and women. This impact is even more evident in the Asia-Pacific region as it has the largest vulnerable population and is the most disaster-prone region in the world.
Webinar: What We Can Do for Forest
The ICA-AP Consumer Committee in partnership with the ICYC and Forestry Committee organized a webinar on "What we can do for Forest" in May. It aimed to foster collaboration among the committees and educate cooperators on the issue of global deforestation and explore ways in which they can work together to address these problems. Read more
Go Green Campaign 4.0
The Go Green Campaign (GGC) was initiated by ICYC in 2018 to encourage youth (35 years of age and below) to plant trees and combat the global threat of climate change and its ever-lasting effects on future generations. The campaign, now in its fourth year, was launched in June, in collaboration with ANGKASA, ICA-AP Consumer and Forestry Committees with a webinar on #OnlyOneEarth. The theme was in line with World Environment Day. Read more.
COOP Dialogue on Cooperatives’ Contribution to Climate Action
ICA-AP launched COOP Dialogue, a biannual magazine, in November 2021 to start conversations around issues that concern cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region. Its third issue (CD 3), released in December 2022 focused on Cooperatives’ Contribution to Climate Action. It dwells on the climate change situation and actions taken by cooperatives in the region. It featured the voices of youth and their eco-friendly actions to secure the planet and their future; ICYC’s Go Green Campaign; and climate-friendly actions and initiatives of cooperatives in China, India, Japan, Palestine, and the Philippines.
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ToT Program on Climate Change and Action
In 2022, the ICA-AP Women's Committee decided to focus on climate change as a priority area to build the capacity of women cooperators in the Asia and Pacific. It joined hands with NATCCO to develop a customized training manual that will be used as a tool to conduct training of trainers (ToT) on climate change and action in cooperatives. The Committee, together with NATCCO, organized a workshop on Climate Change in November in Quezon City, the Philippines for the Committee members and ICA member organizations in the Philippines to review the manual prepared by NATCCO and share their feedback.
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CONVERSATIONS WITH COOPERATORS
The ICA-AP Regional Office continued its engagement with members, partners, and cooperators through various initiatives like Coop Colloquiums, COOP Dialogue, Roundtable Conference, and Webinars around diverse themes.
COOP Colloquium
ICA-AP Committee on Cooperative Research (CCR) launched COOP Colloquium in February 2022 to start an academic dialogue on issues that are relevant to cooperative education and research. ICA-AP Regional Director, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer welcomed the initiative, and CCR Chairperson, Dr. Yashvantha Dongre opined that COOP Colloquium will help in bringing together the rich and diverse experience of cooperative scholarship across the Asia-Pacific region to share, inform and learn. The committee held four colloquiums on Cooperative Identity, Education, Resilience, and Technology.
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COOP Dialogue
The second issue of COOP Dialogue on ‘Future Proofing Cooperatives in Asia and Pacific through Innovations’ was released in May and examples from the Asia and Pacific region of what cooperatives are doing to innovate; perspectives from cooperators on the importance of innovation; issues and challenges in driving innovations; and how culture, policy, and legal environment hinder innovations in cooperatives. The third issue was released in December and focused on ‘Cooperatives’ Contribution to Climate Action’ . Read more.
ICA-MBO Webinar: Enabling Environment for Youth to Own Their Economic Future
The ICA-AP MBO collaborated with ICA Africa to organize the webinar on ‘Enabling Environment for Youth to Own Their Economic Future’ in June. It aimed to make members aware of the existing networks in the Asia-Pacific and Africa regions, initiate a platform for experience and knowledge sharing on best practices, and promote and encourage partnerships/ collaboration between member cooperatives
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Virtual Roundtable Conference on Cooperative Identity
In September, the ICA-AP Consumer Committee, ICEI, and ANGKASA organized a virtual roundtable conference on “Cooperative Identity in Practice and Road Ahead for Cooperation”. It featured a virtual tour of the Rochdale Pioneers Museum, UK which showed the birthplace of the cooperative movement and how it spread across the whole world. This was followed by an open forum for participants to share the work done by their cooperatives. There was a video presentation on the school and university cooperatives in Malaysia and a discussion on Cooperative Principle 6: Cooperation among Cooperatives in Practice in the Context of Japan. Read more.
Seminar: Cooperative Business and Opportunities for Youth Entrepreneurship in Asia and Pacific
In December, ICEI conducted a seminar in partnership with SRCC, University of Delhi. It showcased the university and school cooperative models from Japan, the Philippines, and Malaysia to the students of SRCC. It was also an opportunity for the students and faculty to interact with ICEI members, some of whom are senior cooperators from India and abroad. Read more.
COOPERATIVES IN POLICY AND ADVOCACY
The ICA-AP Regional Office organized three key events in the policy and advocacy domain in partnership with various stakeholders - governments, cooperatives, academia, international agencies, and civil society organizations.
Consultation on Autonomy and Independence of Cooperatives in South India
In August, ICA-AP and Andhra Pradesh Mahila Abhivruddhi Society (APMAS) in collaboration with the Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), ICA Domus Trust, and DGRV, Germany organized a multistakeholder consultation on “Autonomy and Independence of Cooperatives in South India” in Hyderabad. The consultation was organized in the light of the policy and legal developments in the Indian cooperative sector, like the establishment of the Ministry of Cooperation, the formation of a committee to draft the National Cooperation Policy, the emergence of newer forms of collectives including farmer producer organizations (FPOs), etc. Read more
Webinar on ILO Recommendation 193 and the Social and Solidarity Economy
In August, the ICA-AP Regional Office and the ILO jointly organized an event titled “ILO Recommendation 193 and the Social and Solidarity Economy: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific Region” to mark twenty years since the adoption of the Promotion of Cooperatives Recommendation, 2002 (No. 193). The event, apart from commemorating ILO Recommendation 193, also discussed and reflected upon the recent developments from the 110th ILC in June 2022 which held a General Discussion on ‘Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy.’
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National Workshop on Strengthening Solidarity Enabling Women’s Cooperatives and Collective Enterprises to Thrive
SEWA Cooperative Federation in partnership with ICA-AP, NCUI, and SEWA Bharat, organized a two-day national workshop on “Strengthening Solidarity Enabling Women’s Cooperatives and Collective Enterprises to Thrive” in December. The workshop held at NCUI headquarters was attended by over 100 women cooperators from 18 states in India and focused on four themes pertinent to the business of women cooperatives post COVID-19. It concluded with the presentation of the ‘Delhi Declaration of Women’s Cooperatives’ to the members of the National Committee on Cooperative Policy for the consideration of the Government of India. Read more.
PROJECTS AND PARTNERSHIPS
While continuing its existing partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan, the ICA-AP Regional Office entered into new partnerships to implement cooperative development projects.
ICA-MoEc Project for the Development of Cooperative Sector in UAE
The Ministry of Economy (MoEc) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) through its Asia and Pacific Regional Office signed a cooperation agreement to develop and strengthen the cooperative sector in the country. Read more
ICA-MAFF (Government of Japan) Capacity Building Project
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Government of Japan in partnership with the ICA is implementing the ‘Capacity Building Project for Farmer’s Organizations to support the development of Food Value Chain in Asia and Africa’ for three years starting in 2020. The project comprises three training courses for the strengthening of management, empowering of women, and strengthening of marketing of cooperatives, and follow-up guidance and survey of ex-participants. Read more.
SuPER WE Coffee Value Chains Project
ICA-AP joined a consortium with CARE France, CARE International in Lao PDR, Halieus, Sekong Provincial and Forestry Office (SPFO), Sekong Provincial Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SPCCI), and 4Form to implement the SuPER WE Coffee project - Sustainable Production and Ethic Responsible & Women Empowered Coffee value chains in Lao PDR.
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ICA-AP and NCDC-LINAC Collaboration
In January 2022, ICA-AP regional office signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NCDC-LINAC for technical collaboration. The MoU aims to build a mutually beneficial relationship between LINAC and ICA-AP for technical collaboration so that both organizations can learn from each other, assimilate new knowledge, and advance research, study, documentation, and training in the cooperative sector.
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NEW MEMBERS
ICA MEMBERS IN ASIA AND PACIFIC AS OF DEC 2022
FINANCIAL REPORT
